New Genesis Concept Set to Preview 3-Series-Fighting Sports Sedan

Joseph Capparella

Mar 17, 2016

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Hyundai’s new Genesis brand is wasting no time expanding its lineup of luxury sedans. After the flagship G90 debuted earlier this year and the mid-size Hyundai Genesis was rebadged the G80, Genesis will now show a concept car at the New York auto show previewing its BMW 3-series-fighting sports sedan, most likely to be called the G70.

The creatively named “New York concept” is said to show what this new model, billed as a true “sports sedan,” might look like. Genesis uses plenty of buzzwords like “athletic elegance” and “expressive volumes,” but we’re more excited by the prospect of sporty driving dynamics. Like each of the six Genesis models slated to arrive by 2020, the G70 will use a rear-wheel-drive platform not shared with Hyundai, lending some credence to its bid to challenge the Germans.

It certainly won’t be an easy fight against cars like the BMW 3-series, Audi A4, and Mercedes-Benz C-class, not to mention newer challengers like the Lexus IS and Cadillac ATS. But the director of Hyundai’s new “N” performance division, Albert Biermann, previously told us that the G70 will be “a whole new animal” compared to brands’ larger, more luxurious sedans. He even suggested that an N-tuned version of the G70 could arrive to go up against the BMW M3, possibly with a high-output version of the 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 offered in the G90.